by means of an artificial mound heaped over them. It may seem improbable that a people living in such rude dwellings should possess a knowledge of metallurgy, but the Kaffirs and other existing African tribes present us with a similar case.
From these we pass naturally to the beehive houses, which are constructed of dry, thick walls in the form indicated by the name.[1] No doubt many of these are very ancient, and some probably date from the Age of Stone; but on the other hand, they also come down to the present day, and fig. 82 represents a group in Long Island, on the shore of Loch Resort, which was inhabited down to the year 1823. Even now some few beehive houses are still occupied in the Island of Uig.
Fig. 82.—Group of beehive houses, Scotland.
The celebrated "brochs" or "burghs" which abound in the north of Scotland, as well as in the Orkneys and Shetlands, are of a very peculiar character. They have been supposed by some to be Scandinavian, but no similar buildings occur in Norway, Sweden, or Denmark.
Fig. 83 is from a photograph of the celebrated Burgh of Moussa, in the Shetlands, the best preserved specimen of this curious style of architecture. I visited this most interesting building in 1867. It stands close to the sea, on the little Island of Moussa, and may be taken as a typical specimen. Some 300 are known, almost all in the north of Scotland or on the Islands. They are all circular, about 60 feet in diameter, with walls about
- ↑ See Captain Thomas on Beehive Houses, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scotland, vol. iii. p. 133; vol. vii. p. 153. See also Petrie, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scotland, vol. vii. p. 201.
